Every small business has trouble competing against the big guys. There are several things that small businesses don’t do that could really help them out in the way of marketing. Most of these problems can be fixed by doing some Research, making a Plan, and then Executing the strategy.

Research

Most small businesses don’t do their own research. They have a few ways to avoid doing this. Often times, they’ll hire a consultant or an over-priced marketing firm to provide them with some numbers on spreadsheets. That’s a huge mistake. Most of that information may be marketed as “tailored to your needs” but it can’t possibly be true.

Do your own research by finding out what your competitors are doing. That’s another mistake that small businesses make: They don’t look at what the other guys are doing in the market. Don’t just hire someone to do the work for you; you can do the work you need. It will be so much more useful to look around for yourself. Plus, you’ll be able to understand the results.

Plan

Small businesses rarely make a plan. That’s the first mistake: Have a written marketing plan. So many small businesses just fly by the seat of their pants. They open a Twitter account and set up a Facebook page and think they’ve got things together. Another huge mistake that small businesses make is not having a website, or devoting more efforts to social media than to your website.

Your website should be the hub of your on-line operations. Everything you post should lead back to your website, which should lead to a way for you to showcase your goods and services. Your website is the centre of your on-line marketing and should be treated as such. If you pay a few dollars a month for a web service, you’re going to get a few dollars a month worth of web service.

Execute

Once small businesses make an actual plan for their marketing presence, they must execute that plan. Many small businesses fail to monitor their marketing efforts. There are tools out there to use (see our Social Media Quick Reference). When you have a good web presence, you must monitor to see what’s working and what’s not.

The most important thing about marketing, is to find a way to monetise the marketing efforts. It is not enough to just have tools in place, you must actually use them and monitor their effectiveness. Everything should direct back to your website which will have a way to make direct purchases or direct contact. Both of these can be tracked and it’s simple to set up ways to track this.

Summary

Make sure you do your research (for yourself). Then, make a plan (a real one that you actually write down). Once you do that, follow through with your commitment. That’s how small businesses can be sure to avoid making mistakes in marketing.